A District Court Judge has sentenced a Box Elder, South Dakota, woman, and a Rapid City, South Dakota, woman, both convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencings took place on July 11, 2025.
Veronica Ortega, 48, was sentenced to 24 years and four months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Paige Sierra, 33, was sentenced to 11 years and 9 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Ortega and Sierra were indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2024 for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. Ortega pleaded guilty on April 28, 2025, and Sierra pleaded guilty on April 2, 2025.
Between January 2022 and February 2024, Ortega and Sierra were part of a conspiracy with several others to distribute methamphetamine in South Dakota, including in the Rapid City area and in the Pine Ridge Reservation. Large quantities of methamphetamine were being transported from Denver, Colorado, to South Dakota, and Sierra assisted on occasion with the transportation of those drugs. Once in Rapid City, both Ortega and Sierra obtained distributable quantities of methamphetamine and then re-distributed that methamphetamine to others.
This case was investigated by the Division of Criminal Investigation, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Highway Patrol, Wyoming State Highway Patrol, and the North Metro Denver Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case.
Ortega and Sierra were immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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